Welcome to Longborn

by MK McGowan

  Bud chewed, swallowed, and continued. “You didn’t hear? Stella retired. Moved to Florida to be near her daughter. She’s trying to sell the place, but so far, no takers. Harold’s running the place for now.”

  “But I thought…”

  Bud leaned in closer. He loved gossip. “You thought that Stella and Harold were involved, right?” Harold was the short order cook. Ten years younger than Stella, he’d worked at the grill for the past 15 years. He just showed up one day, and Stella, who had been recently widowed, gave him a job and a place to stay. Everyone in town assumed that the two were lovers.

  Bud continued. “They were, but apparently, there must have been some sort of falling out because Stella up and left. Harold’s been burning the food ever since.” He looked down at his plate sadly. “I don’t suppose you know anyone who wants to buy a diner?”

  Elizabeth had a strange feeling. “Well, now that you mention it, I need to talk to you about something.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Darcy had never dreaded heading back to the office so much in her life. She’d spent Sunday doing her laundry and trying to figure out a way to explain things to her boss. She’ll simply have to deal with it. Besides, it’s not like I can’t find other work. She stopped by her favorite bakery and picked up a large cup of coffee and some scones for later. Back out on the street, she breathed in the fresh morning air and pulled her coat tight against the damp, cold wind coming in off the bay. She turned toward her office with a spring in her step.

  Darcy got out of the elevator and went straight to Charlotte’s office. She hadn’t heard from her friend since they got home on Saturday night. She peeked in the door and saw that Charlotte was at her desk, already on the phone. She waved and headed to her office. Darcy had just gingerly brushed the surface of her chair to sit down when the phone rang.

  She picked it up, and before she could even say hello, she heard the voice bark “Get in here.” The line went dead, and she wondered how long it would take to clean out her desk. Probably not that long. Despite working there for 10 years, she hadn’t added many homey touches.

  Darcy stiffened her spine, put down her coffee cup, and headed bravely into the hall. She spotted Charlotte waiting for her. Darcy lifted her hand in salute, “We who are about to die and all that,” she said. “Are you ready?”

  Charlotte nodded solemnly. The two women fell into step and marched toward Carolyn’s office. Helen, Carolyn’s secretary, gave them a pitying look as they approached.

  “We’re here to see Her Highness,” Darcy joked.

  Helen nodded. “She wants you to go on in. I’ve had her on decaf all morning, so maybe it won’t be too bad,” she added, in a sympathetic tone. Darcy smiled. Kindness to the condemned was always appreciated.

  Darcy knocked once on Carolyn’s door and walked in, Charlotte at her heels.

  Carolyn had her back to the room and was looking out the window. She was a short, plump woman, dressed all in black. Add in a mane of unruly dark curls, and she brought to mind an image of a witch. Which, with a consonant change, is about right.

  Carolyn swiveled her chair to face them. “There you two are. Welcome back,” she said sweetly. “How was Texas?”

  Oh God. It’s worse than I thought, Darcy’s mind raced. From the corner of her eye, she saw Charlotte go pale. Darcy stepped in front of her friend and junior colleague, placing herself literally and figuratively in the line of fire.

  “I take it you’ve heard,” Darcy said matter-of-factly.

  “Heard what?” Carolyn asked acidly. “Heard that there isn’t a deal on the table? Heard that you came back empty-handed? Heard that you spent hundreds of dollars of my money and have nothing to show for it?” Her voice was already rising, and she hadn’t even warmed up yet.

  Darcy decided to try reason. “Carolyn, the property isn’t going to be available. The owner isn’t interested in selling.”

  That didn’t go over well with the diminutive woman behind the desk. “Not interested in selling? Since when do we wait for someone to be interested in selling?” she yelled.

  So much for reason. It was time to attack. “Actually, I misspoke,” Darcy said. There was a momentary gleam of satisfaction in Carolyn’s eyes. It faded at Darcy’s next statement. “I should have said she wasn’t interested in selling to you. She seems to think that all you’re interested in is the oil that’s underneath the property. Consequently, she’s not simply not interested, she’s decidedly opposed to the idea of selling to you. Your cousin seems to have a great deal of animosity toward you, you know.”

  Carolyn glowered at Darcy. She stood up. All four feet, seven inches of her radiated outrage. She stomped her way around her desk, stopping right in front of her two formerly favorite employees. “My relationship with my family is complicated, and it’s none of your damn business, Darcy,” she said caustically. The ring of the telephone interrupted Carolyn’s tirade. She shot the phone a look of such venom that had it been alive, it would be trembling in a corner by now. She stormed around her desk, and, with a smile nothing short of grim, she picked up the phone.

  “Carolyn, there’s a Dr. Elizabeth Austin on the phone for you. She claims she’s your cousin,” Helen said.

  Carolyn stiffened even more. “Give me thirty seconds and then put the call through,” she ordered. She slammed the receiver down and resumed glaring at the two women standing in front of her desk.

  “I want you two to get your overpaid asses back to your office and start planning this resort – while you still have a job,” Carolyn said with a snarl. “You leave my cousin to me. Now get out!”

  Darcy and Charlotte wasted no time following that directive. Although puzzled by Carolyn’s comparatively gentle treatment, they weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. They hurried back to Darcy’s office. Once safely inside, they both took a deep breath.

  “Well that went well,” Darcy said with a droll expression.

  Charlotte laughed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beefing up my resume.” She collapsed in the chair in front of Darcy’s desk. “So what do we do now? You and I both know that Elizabeth’s not willing to sell.”

  Darcy had been fighting off thoughts of the irritating doctor all weekend. And not just every time she sat down. Now that they were faced with the possibility of Carolyn going after Elizabeth, she found the idea surprisingly disturbing. She viciously kicked her sympathy for Elizabeth to the curb. She tried to get her priorities in order. “I don’t think that’s our problem. I think we need to keep our heads down and get this resort roughed out – while we look for other jobs,” she added, only half kidding.

  Darcy walked over to her desk and pulled open her briefcase. She dug out topographical, survey, and road maps of the town and county. She spread the first one out on her desk and started to study it.

  Charlotte watched for a moment. “Do you seriously think Longborn’s ready to become a gay outdoor resort town?” she asked.

  Darcy stopped looking at the map. “I don’t know. There’s potential for hunting, fishing, swimming, rock climbing, horseback riding. Plus, if someone gets tired of the great outdoors, it’s close enough to Dallas for the museums, shopping, and nightlife. And land is still comparatively cheap. So, either Carolyn is insane, or she’s a freaking genius. I haven’t decided.”

  Charlotte nodded and stood up. “Maybe it isn’t such a crazy idea. I’m going to go run some demographics and check out marketing possibilities. See you at lunch?”

  Darcy nodded absently. She was already engrossed in her maps.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Three weeks later, Darcy had drawn up rough plans for several resorts. Because the property size was still in question, she figured she’d better cover all possibilities. Meanwhile, Charlotte had tracked down tons of data on outdoor sports in general, and gay and lesbian participation in outdoor sports in particular. To Darcy’s surprise, the resort was beginning to actually look like a viable idea. They were scheduled to mee
t with Carolyn that morning. They hadn’t seen her since their disastrous trip, so they had no idea what to expect. They had their T’s crossed and their I’s dotted. And their resumes updated, just in case.

  As Darcy walked toward Charlotte’s office, she saw a UPS woman leaving. She smiled, glad that her friend was back to her old tricks. She didn’t bother to knock. She figured she’d find Charlotte tilted back in her chair, enjoying the view. So she was surprised to find Charlotte poring over a catalog of outdoor equipment instead.

  “All right, who are you and what have you done with my friend Charlotte?” she asked, half seriously.

  “What?”

  “Did you have that delivered?”

  Charlotte nodded. She had a puzzled smile on her face, like she knew there was a joke coming but didn’t know what it was.

  “Yeah. I ordered this catalog of hunting gear,” Charlotte said. She flipped open the glossy, inch-thick catalog and rifled through a few pages. “You should see some of this stuff, Darcy. The general sales figures of this company alone are amazing. It’s been hard to figure out exactly how much is purchased by gays, but if it’s even a tenth of the total then there’s a huge potential here.”

  Darcy was exasperated with her friend’s sudden obtuseness. “Charlotte, did you not see the woman who delivered that?”

  Charlotte nodded vaguely. “Yeah, so?”

  “She was hot. She was a hot UPS delivery woman. And gay. At least she looked gay from my angle, and you didn’t even notice? What’s wrong with you?”

  Charlotte slumped in her chair. “You’re right. I didn’t notice.” She shot out of her chair and threw her arms around Darcy. “You know what this means?” she asked, suddenly delighted.

  Darcy shook her head. She honestly hadn’t a clue.

  “I’m in love,” Charlotte sighed.

  “With whom?” Darcy asked. She knew for a fact that Charlotte hadn’t been out with anyone since they returned from Texas. Suddenly, it all clicked into horrible place. “Oh no! Tell me it isn’t the Texan.” She couldn’t even say her name.

  “It is. It’s Jane. We’ve kept in touch over the last few weeks,” Charlotte admitted.

  Darcy shook her head. “I thought you’d forgotten about her, that you weren’t going out because we were working so hard.”

  “Nope, I love her.” Charlotte said it proudly.

  “Would you quit saying that?” Darcy demanded. Just then her phone alarm went off. She checked the screen. “Shit! It’s time for our meeting with Carolyn. We can’t be late. We’ll talk about this later,” she said. Charlotte, grinning like an idiot, fell into step beside her.

  They walked down the hall toward the conference room. To their surprise, they were the first ones there. Darcy sat down near the middle of the table and ran through her presentation again. Charlotte went over to the sideboard and checked out the donuts that had been put out for the meeting. She grabbed one covered with chocolate glaze and sat down by Darcy.

  A few minutes later, Carolyn opened the door. There was another person behind her. Darcy heard Charlotte’s quick intake of breath and then felt her own jaw drop when she saw who was trailing Carolyn. It was Kate Wickham – a brilliant architect and Darcy’s ex. That is Carolyn’s revenge. Carolyn was going to make her work with her nemesis. Darcy decided her boss was truly evil.

  “Let’s get to work, shall we?” Carolyn said. “We need to see your rough drafts of the layout, Darcy. I’ve hired Kate’s firm to design the lodge and grounds. And Charlotte, we’ll need your input on what types of activities suit the area and a marketing strategy.”

  Darcy struggled to appear unfazed by this new development. She unrolled her drawings and slid them across the table toward Kate. Kate pulled the drawings closer to get a better look.

  Darcy looked at her suspiciously. Kate didn’t appear outwardly hostile, but Darcy knew that could change in an instant. She leaned back uncomfortably in her seat as Kate and Carolyn methodically went over each of the drawings. Darcy was surprised to feel Charlotte’s hand slide into hers under the table. Charlotte gave her hand a comforting squeeze, and Darcy felt a little bit better.

  Carolyn fired questions at her one after another, and Kate just smiled. It was all very unnerving, and by the end of the meeting, Darcy felt like she had been through the wringer.

  “Enough. I think that’s a good start,” Carolyn finally declared. As the women gathered their notes, Kate came around the table and placed a hand on Darcy’s arm.

  “Darcy, darling, I didn’t realize that you came with the job,” she said, her voice as smooth as glass. “It’ll be good to work with you again.”

  Darcy thought of a hundred things to say. She settled for a noncommittal nod. Then she forcefully snapped her briefcase shut.

  “Hello, Kate,” Charlotte said. She deliberately positioned herself between the two women.

  Kate turned and smiled at the perky woman. “Charlie, as lovely as ever, I see. It’ll be great working with you, too. It’ll be like old times.”

  Not a chance in hell, Darcy thought, turning for the door. Unfortunately, her escape was blocked by Helen heading her way. And, she had a visitor in tow.

  “Elizabeth?” Darcy gasped. She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but three heads swiveled toward the door in unison.

  Helen ushered Elizabeth into the conference room. Darcy started toward her, but Carolyn pushed her aside to wrap her cousin in a huge hug.

  “I see you made it. It’s so good to see you,” Carolyn said. She sounded genuinely pleased.

  Apparently, it is a day for surprises, Darcy thought.

  Carolyn slid her arm around Elizabeth’s waist and turned the newcomer toward the others in the room. “I think you’ve met Darcy and Charlotte,” she said dismissively. “But this is Kate Wickham. Kate, this is my cousin Elizabeth Austin.”

  Kate approached the newcomer with obvious interest. She held out her hand, “It’s very nice to meet you, Elizabeth,” she said silkily.

  Elizabeth shook her hand graciously. Then she looked around Kate and said hello to Darcy.

  Carolyn didn’t miss the look that passed between the two women. “I know you’re here to talk business, but let’s go have some lunch first and catch up. We’ll meet back here at two,” Carolyn said, pulling her cousin toward the door.

  “Who exactly was that?” Kate asked no one in particular.

  “That is the woman who can put a stop to this whole project. She owns much of the land we want to build on. And she’s not interested in selling,” Charlotte explained.

  “At least that’s what she told us weeks ago,” Darcy said. She squinted in suspicion. “But it seems like little Miss ‘I’m not selling the family farm’ might have changed her mind.”

  Kate looked puzzled. “Carolyn can certainly be persuasive. What were Elizabeth’s objections?”

  “She was afraid that Carolyn is secretly after the oil that might be there,” Darcy said dismissively. “Guess she got over it. Isn’t money wonderful?”

  “She’s a nature freak?” Kate asked. “I’ve got all kinds of green building options that might help persuade her. Maybe I should talk to her,” she said. “Alone,” she added with a suggestive smile. She’d never been modest of her charms.

  Darcy shot Kate a venomous look. “Down girl. Carolyn’s in charge of her cousin.” Darcy found the idea of Elizabeth and Kate alone together disturbing. She told herself it was because she knew that Kate was a two-timing, manipulative bitch and no one deserved that, not even someone willing to sell out her principles. “I’ll be in my office,” she said, “if anyone wants to get some actual work done.”

  Charlotte trailed her out of the conference room. “I wonder if she’s talked to Jane recently?” she asked.

  Darcy rolled her eyes and kept walking.

  Chapter Twenty

  Carolyn escorted Elizabeth back to her office. She hadn’t seen her cousin in years. She’d been a pesky kid when Carolyn left home.

  �
�I was surprised when you called and said you were going to be in town this week,” Carolyn admitted. “But I’m happy you did. And not only because I want to buy your land.”

  “I’m visiting some friends for Thanksgiving and thought it’d give us an opportunity to discuss things in person,” Elizabeth said.

  Carolyn nodded. “That’s right. You went to school out here didn’t you?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, Berkeley and med school in Sacramento. I come back to visit a few times a year. I love California. Almost as much as Texas,” she added, with a smile.

  “Well, sell me the property, and you can almost afford to live here,” Carolyn said. “But before we get down to business, I really do want to catch up.”

  “Sure, that’d be great.”

  “Helen!” Carolyn yelled. “Make reservations and call my car around.”

  Helen nodded, even though she’d already done both.

  ***

  Lunch was a pleasant affair. Elizabeth regaled Carolyn with tales of their hometown and its residents. She was a little surprised at how much her cousin seemed to miss it considering, she couldn’t wait to leave it when she turned 18.

  “So you brought little Janie with you? You two always were as thick as thieves,” Carolyn said affectionately. “Do you remember the time I caught you two using my makeup to decorate the dog?”

  Elizabeth laughed at the memory. “And you chased us all around Grandpa’s farm! We thought for sure you were going to kill us. I don’t know if you know it, but we idolized you. You left a few weeks later. For a long time, we thought it was because you were mad at us.” The women fell silent, lost in bittersweet memories.

  Finally, Carolyn broached a question she’d avoided all afternoon.

  “How’s Mama?” she asked quietly.

  “She’s doing okay,” Elizabeth said. “Did you know she had a stroke a few months ago?”